OXFORD is to become a manufacturing centre for a visionary maker of innovative glasses.

Major growth internationally has prompted Adlens to focus on developing a site in Osney Lane, off Botley Road, where it will make the next generation of its adaptable spectacles.

Adlens, which has its headquarters in Park End Street, is turning its attentions to the UK market and has struck a deal with high street optician Vision Express to test the product.

Chief executive Mike Ferrara said: “Over the past two years we have taken the technology and developed the business globally in countries such as the US, Japan and across Asia.

“We have made 250,000 pairs of one type of glasses, but that’s just a starting point.”

The business, which also has an innovation centre in Wolvercote where it develops new products, employs 82 staff, the majority of them based in Oxford.

Adaptable spectacles allow the wearer to adjust the lenses to their individual needs.

The original versions were the brainchild of nuclear physicist Dr Joshua Silver, of New College, Oxford, who filled lenses with a transparent fluid, enabling the focus to be changed.

They were originally developed for use in the developing world, where access to opticians is limited, and that work has continued through a separate business, Vision for a Nation, while Adlens has become commercially-driven.

The latest version of the glasses to be manufactured in Oxford do not use the liquid technology but retain adaptive lenses.

About 12 staff have been recruited and are being trained for the launch of manufacturing in November.

Although Mr Ferrara declined to reveal the company’s turnover, funding comes from philanthropist and businessman James Chen and the company is expected to be profitable by next year.

Mr Ferrara added: “We felt it was important to open our manufacturing site in Oxford because there is a good pool of talent here and we are always looking for new people.

“The workforce is fast and flexible which is important because we are a company on the move.

“If you miss a week, then you have some catching up to do.”

As reported in Tuesday’s Oxford Mail, the company has supplied its glasses to Rwanda in Africa, after the charity Vision for a Nation was given a £250,000 grant by the British Government’s Department for International Developnent.

For each pair of glasses bought, a second pair is donated to the charty.